Chapter 84: Chapter 80: Big Brother’s Status Will Be Lost Sooner or Later
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It was early morning. The sun had yet to rise, but the sky had already turned a pale blue.
Su Zhi stood at the door and looked back. "Dad, Mom, I’m off to school."
"Go, Xiaoshu!"
Wang Sujuan smiled and gave him a thumbs-up, then turned to give Yu Bao a thumbs-up as well. "You go too, Yu Bao!"
"WOOF!"
Yu Bao wagged his tail, full of energy.
But Su Mao, clad in a small pink apron, wearing matching pink sleeve protectors, and holding a small spatula with a heart-shaped cutout, sighed.
"Xiaoshu’s leaving again. All of a sudden, I don’t want him to go."
Wang Sujuan shot him a deadpan glance. "With Xiaoshu gone, you won’t have an excuse to take a day off, will you?"
"Huh?!" Su Mao’s face flushed red. "How can you slander me out of thin air!"
Wang Sujuan picked up her phone and opened the author’s notes section for a certain web novel.
"’Need to cheer up my depressed son today. No Chapter.’"
"’My son’s Pet Beast training requires me to stand guard today. No Chapter.’"
"’My son today...’"
Su Mao clutched his head and crouched down defensively. "Stop reading, stop reading..."
Seeing his dad getting called out by his mom as usual, Su Zhi smiled in relief and waved. "I’m leaving. Bye, Mom and Dad."
"Okay, bye, Xiaoshu!"
The bickering couple suddenly looked at Su Zhi in unison.
"Go, Xiaoshu! No matter what you face at school, we’ll always be your staunchest supporters!"
His parents said in unison. freewebnσvel.cѳm
Su Zhi froze for a moment, then subconsciously broke into a brilliant smile. He nodded and closed the door behind him.
He could faintly hear his parents starting to bicker again on the other side of the door.
"Why were you so loud? You drowned me out."
"Didn’t you tell me to be louder?"
"I tell you to write ten thousand words a day, but I don’t see you doing that."
"Can we not talk about this...?"
Yu Bao looked at Su Zhi and tilted his head. "Woof?"
"It’s nothing. I just think my parents are pretty funny."
Su Zhi wiped away a couple of tears of laughter and patted Yu Bao’s head. "Come on, we should get going."
"WOOF!"
As Su Zhi and Yu Bao stepped out of their building’s entrance, the door to the building opposite them happened to open as well.
A girl with long, bright white hair and a Huajing Cat walked out of the building, gently pulling the door shut behind them.
Then, as if she had only just noticed him by chance, the girl waved with a look of pleasant surprise. "Hey! What a coincidence!"
Su Zhi gave a helpless smile. "It’s always this coincidental, isn’t it?"
"WOOF!"
Seeing the familiar figure behind Shao Ya, Yu Bao’s eyes lit up, and he trotted over excitedly.
’Big Bro Xiaoyue! Long time no see!’
"Meeeow."
Xiaoyue watched him with a look of utter resignation. Since there was no escape, he simply sat down and let Yu Bao rub up against him.
’We just saw each other yesterday morning, so how is that ’long time no see’?...’
’The logic of a silly little dog is truly incomprehensible.’
’Good thing he has a big brother like me looking out for him. Otherwise, if someone sold him, he’d probably help them count the money.’
"SHOOOSH—"
Suddenly, Yu Bao, who had been clinging to Xiaoyue just a second ago, dissolved into a gust of wind and sand and shot behind him.
It was clearly Desert Concealment!
Xiaoyue’s eyes narrowed. The lazy air about him instantly sharpened, and his eyes instinctively locked onto the swirling sand.
’Oh, so you dare to show off your Skills in front of your big brother now, huh?’
’I let you win by a fluke last time, and you really think you’ve gotten all high and mighty!’
"SHOOOSH—"
Yu Bao materialized.
Xiaoyue pounced, swatting a paw at Yu Bao and causing him to dissolve into a pile of loose sand.
It was a Sand Shadow Guard.
Without the slightest surprise or shock, Xiaoyue kicked off with his hind legs, twisted his body, and darted toward the four o’clock position.
He had seen it clearly. The silly little dog had split the sand into two gusts: one to form the Sand Shadow Guard, and the other for the Desert Concealment effect.
’You can fool others, but don’t think for a second you can fool your big brother!’
"SMACK—"
Like a cat catching a mouse, Xiaoyue pinned down Yu Bao’s tail.
Seeing Yu Bao struggling helplessly in his grasp, Xiaoyue’s lips curled into a delighted smirk.
’So this is the joy of putting a silly little dog in his place~’
"HAH... HAH..."
Yu Bao’s voice came from behind him.
Xiaoyue’s smile froze on his face. He turned around woodenly and saw the real Yu Bao sitting behind him, wagging his tail.
The Yu Bao he had caught fell still, then—POOF—dissolved into a pile of sand.
Shao Ya covered her mouth in surprise. "Yu Bao can make two clones now? Has Sand Shadow Guard reached Tier Two?"
"Yeah."
A smile touched Su Zhi’s lips as he spoke of it. "The Skill Level for Sand Shadow Guard is hard to raise, but Yu Bao spent a lot of time training diligently. Just last night, he became able to control two Stand-Ins. I think that’s the mark of Tier Two."
"Amazing! So all of Yu Bao’s Skills are Tier Two now."
Shao Ya looked at Yu Bao and winked her right eye. "You’re the best, Yu Bao!"
"Woof~"
Yu Bao scratched his head, a little embarrassed, then looked toward Big Bro Xiaoyue, his eyes full of expectation.
"Meow, meeeow."
Xiaoyue nodded, then turned his head away, pretending not to be shocked at all.
’It’s... not bad, I guess. But that’s all it is! Still a far cry from me.’
"Woof."
Yu Bao’s eyes sparkled. ’As expected of Big Bro, he saw through my little trick long ago!’
’Looks like I’ll have to work even harder in the future. I’ll strive to truly shock him one day.’
"Meow."
Seeing the silly little dog’s adoring gaze, Xiaoyue adopted the magnanimous air befitting a big brother and rewarded Yu Bao with a pat on the head.
At the same time, he secretly made a resolution:
’If I let this silly little dog keep messing with me like this, my status as big brother will be at risk sooner or later.’
’I’ve decided. Starting today, I’m going to get even more competitive!’
On the way to school, the two Pet Beasts were inseparable, looking perfectly harmonious.
The two Beast Tamers walked behind them. Though it was their first day returning to school together, they were surprisingly quiet.
"Hey."
Shao Ya suddenly handed something to Su Zhi.
At first glance, it looked like a lump of dirt, but a closer look revealed its intricate and orderly patterns.
"A Thick Earth Core?"
There was a pleasant surprise in Su Zhi’s voice. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
This resource was incredibly significant for a Yu Dian Dog. It could effectively help it comprehend its Core Skill, Thick Earth Blessing. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was tailor-made for it.
Although it was only a Tier One resource, it was very difficult to mine, which kept its price persistently high.
Coupled with the fact that it was almost exclusively useful to the Yu Dian Dog, basically no one bought it.
"It’s for you! Cao Mingyu gave you an Earth Vein Thought, right? Yu Bao can absorb both of these resources together. The effect is really good!"
Shao Ya clasped her hands in front of her and tilted her head to look at Su Zhi. "Yu Bao still hasn’t mastered Thick Earth Blessing. Maybe this is the little push he needs?"
"Yeah."
Su Zhi put the Thick Earth Core away carefully and opened his mouth as if to say something.
But in the end, only two incredibly ordinary words came out:
"Thank you."
"Pfft... Why thank me?" Shao Ya suddenly covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.
"Have you forgotten? You gave me the Wood Magnet Crystal from the wilderness training."
Su Zhi raised an eyebrow. "So you basically traded my own thing for this?"
"And there was some of the Wood Magnet Crystal left over, but I kept it all for myself!" Shao Ya blinked mischievously, looking like she wanted to see him get flustered.
Su Zhi stared at her for a moment, then chuckled softly.
"Then just consider it your service fee."
"Really? If it’s mine, I can do whatever I want with it."
"Yep, it’s yours."
"What a generous boss! May the boss get rich!"
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